


The Empress' New Clothes

by TooOceanBlue



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Established Relationship, F/M, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Episode: e067-069 Story and Song Parts 1-3, Reunions, lup gets her body back, non-sexual nudity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-28
Updated: 2019-10-28
Packaged: 2021-01-05 03:04:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21206360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TooOceanBlue/pseuds/TooOceanBlue
Summary: Lup straightened, swallowed, and wow, that was something too. She looked at Barry with elven eyes for the first time in a decade, looked down at herself, smiling. Every inch of her skin was covered in goosebumps, coated in globs of green slime. She looked back up to Barry, a soft laugh tumbling out of her throat. "Damn, I forgot how good I look."My take on the Day Lup gets her body back.





	The Empress' New Clothes

It was daytime. Morning, in fact, if she could risk being so specific. Lup knew this because Barry was awake, stumbling through the cave without his glasses, and brewing the kind of watery coffee that would have never passed as acceptable in Lup and Taako’s kitchen on the starblaster.

Barry had always been an early riser. Out of bed before her even if she needed half as much rest. But for now she spent the mornings awake, untired but never rested, waiting for her body to reform.

Any day now.

Barry passed his hand through her own, sitting down at the makeshift desk and settling to face her. He still touched her too much like this, when neither of them could really feel it and the raw magic that constituted her form left mild burns on his skin if they touched for too long. She never told him to stop though.

“How did you sleep?”

Barry scratched at his head, cracked his neck. “Fine. Good.” He blinked up at her. “How was your night?”

“Good. Boring.” There was stillness in her words, not in tone, but in being. No air through her lungs, no shapes in her mouth. Just sounds out of nothing, out of magic. It drove her mad if she focused on it. “There’s only so many stalagmites I can blast without waking you up.”

Barry laughed quietly. “Sorry. Just, uh,” His eyes drifted to the right of her, caught on something and stayed.

"Babe?" Lup floated to the right, holding herself in front of him.

"Lup." His tone was enough to shake out the groggy morning voice he had used just moments earlier, the voice of a man waking up to the hunger coming a day early, only less grave, more awed.  
Lup turned around, zeroed in on what held Barry's focus.

The pod.

  
"The light is green." Lup said.

Barry was standing up, coffee forgotten, eyes slowing shifting towards her before flicking back to the tiny green light. "Your body is ready."  
Lup floated towards the pod, hands held up in a pantomime of touching the glass, turned back to Barry. There was a stillness there, a wonder, like everything was suddenly perfect. Like after months of impatience the next few moments would be all the time in the world, all the time they’d need. Lup floated back to Barry, who held her robe folded over his arms. 

"Are you ready babe?" she asked.

  
Barry laughed. "Are _you_ ready?"

  
Lup turned around slowly, took in every visual tinted by lichdom, by true sight and _nothing else._

  
"Yeah," she completed her turn to the pod, drawing closer. "Yeah."

  
Lup rested her hands above the glass again, took in her body in the third person of a ghost. Yeah, She was ready. She couldn’t wait a minute longer. Lup pushed through the glass like a particularly thick wall, shifted into her body like it was falling asleep. And then the pod opened.

  
Green liquid exploded across the floor, Lup nearly following suit. She stumbled instead, caught herself on the door, and took a newborn's breath. It was _cold._

  
Lup straightened, swallowed, and _wow _that was something too. She looked at Barry with elven eyes for the first time in a decade, looked down at herself, smiling. Every inch of her skin was covered in goosebumps, coated in globs of green slime. She looked back up to Barry, a soft laugh tumbling out of her throat. "_Damn_, I forgot how good I look."

Barry laughed and held out her robe for her to step into, crossing the room before she could trip over new legs (damn nice legs, thank you very much). She turned in his arms, fabric against her shoulders and her back and her chest and it should really have been quite unpleasant, with the green slime and the sturdy ipre-issued material of the robe, but for the first time she was _ feeling, _ her skin was _ humming, _ and she was holding Barry’s eyes the way they’d done forever and everything was _ perfect. _Lup took a breath and took Barry’s face in her hands- and his skin, his stubble, the warmth underneath her palms- “I’m gonna smooch your fucking brains out babe.”

His lips were chapped. God, his lips were chapped and his and _ real _and his arms wrapped around her, too gentle, but just tight enough, and she pulled him closer until her hands shifted from his face to around his neck and her smile widened against his.

Lup moved to kiss the corner of his mouth. One smile was challenging enough but they weren’t going to get anything done if all they could do was smoosh their smiles together. Her lips shifted across his jaw, down his neck until she was smiling and breathing in deep as he held her.

"You smell different."

  
"Sorry," Barry laughed, fragile, and she was suddenly sure there were tears there.

  
"It's okay. It's good." Lup felt the warm feeling in her chest gather almost painfully in her throat. "You taste the same".

  
Barry laughed again and held her tighter. “I love you,” he said, and that was what did it.

  
Lup all at once felt gravity, a weakness in her legs, love and fear and relief so powerful it could level a planet. Her chest rattled. "I know. Shit, I know, fuck," Lup leaned into Barry. "Fuck." she repeated.

  
Barry let her lower the two of them to the floor, breathed out as she loosened her grip. He rubbed her back. "It's okay."

  
"I love you too, babe, of course, holy shit. And I'm here. Barry, I'm here. _Finally_," And the last word could have come out as a joke, if it weren't for the way her breath hitched over the syllable, the way she shifted her forehead to rest on his shoulder and block out the light she had been ecstatic to experience only moments before. "Fuck, this is a lot."

  
"Sorry," and Lup could hear the thickness in his throat, could tell the difference between the pod ooze in her hair and the Barry tears against her cheek. She focused on the rumble of his voice, flexed her arms around him tighter like she could physically hold the sound. "It's kind of like a hangover, huh?"

  
Lup laughed weakly. "What the hell were you drinking, babe?"

  
"Uh, mostly like. Just. Whatever cheap ale. My uh, my pallet was not great."

  
"Oh my god." Lup shook her head, felt her damp hair move between her forehead and the denim of Barry's jacket.

  
Slowly, she concentrated on her breathing, on Barry’s hand rubbing small and familiar circles on her back, and when she gradually shifted her focus to flexing her muscles her breath continued without conscious effort. Lup steadied herself, then raised her head to meet Barry's eyes. He wiped the tears from her cheeks, and she did the same for him. "I love you,” she repeated.

  
"I love you too." Their words were quieter now, less desperate. Lup gave him another kiss, short and slow. Then she set her priorities.

  
"We need to go see Taako,” she decided.

  
Barry broke into a smile. "He'll be so happy,” he said, and gods, she loved him, felt it in her bones and her smile and the rightness of gathering her family.

  
"He's gonna cry. And then I'm gonna cry." Lup wiped at her eyes and chuckled, though they were mostly dry by then. "This body's not even a day old and I'm already dehydrating."

  
"Do you- do you need some water?"

  
He was so caring. So patient and thoughtful and loving it made her want to start crying again. Or go back to kissing him. Lup shook her head instead, stretched her arms out and started to stand up, Barry following with a strong hand at her waist. "I'm good, babe,” she laughed, “I'm looking forward to eating though. You know, when this all settles." She waved a hand around herself, catching some of the goop in her hair. "I'm gonna need a shower too."

  
"We'll get you everything, babe," Barry promised, "Just let me, uh,"

  
"I can stand on my own Barry,” Lup reminded him.

  
Barry grinned, a little sheepish and a lot loving, and reached down to squeeze her hand before moving both of his own in front of himself to summon his scythe. They weren’t official reapers yet, and for Barry, a man wrapped in real flesh, it took some concentration. But it only took a moment for the weapon to appear before he took her hand again, using the other to grip the scythe-turned-key-to-the-dimensional door. "You ready babe?"

  
Lup grinned. The rub of her teeth against her the inside of her lips was starting to feel familiar. "Always".

  
Barry slid the scythe down through nothing, through the planar fabric itself. He pulled her close, and they stepped through.

  
The smell in her brother's kitchen was amazing, enveloping her even before the darkness of the nether faded. Sweetness was sprinkled through the air and across the counter, Taako standing in the middle of it all, waving his hands as if it were for show. But beneath it was the smell of something savory and deeply familiar even across worlds. It was home.

  
Taako lowered the ingredients around him, wiped across the counter before swirling around to greet his visitors. "What's up Ghost-" He was cut short. 

"Lup."

  
There wasn't a moment of stillness. Time didn't stop. But her brother's jaw fell slack and he moved towards her like through water, and her legs moved too, and they were standing across from one another.

  
"Holy shit." Taako reached out to grab either side of her face, his hands curved perfectly around the angles of her jaw. "You're here."

  
"Yeah." Lup's throat was dry, and she nodded too, just to feel the lines inside her neck bend.

  
Her brother's arms slid around her, protective, and it didn't matter that she was dripping green ooze all over the kitchen floor, or that there was cake batter in her hair now too, because her heart was beating again. She collapsed into him, holding on tight.

  
She cried a lot. They both did. 

Lup could have spent the first dozen hours in her new body sobbing against her brother’s shoulder. She wouldn’t have stopped, wouldn’t have felt wrong, wouldn’t have had a single thought except for that at last things were right with the world, only Taako said some stupid shit about pod-ooze cake and she had to laugh and pull away to hit him.

“I can’t believe you,” she said, voice thick. “The most beautiful creature in existence is once again gracing this plane and all you can do is talk about pastries.”

Taako didn’t have to fake his sniffle, though the way he pointed his nose in the air was definitely for show. “Excuse me, I have to mourn having to share my title again. I need the sweets.”

Lup slipped her fingers under the shoulder of her robe, scooping up green slime and flicking it at her brother. Taako sputtered, casting prestidigitation almost before it even hit his skin. “I cannot _ believe _ you just did that. _ Body pod _ ooze, Lup, that is _ disgusting. _”

“I _ know _my dude, and it’s all over me. I need to use your bath.” Barry had since joined them, standing by Lup’s side as if he expected her legs to give out from under her at any moment. She might have brushed him off, but now that she wasn’t leaning against Taako she hadn’t dismissed the possibility that they would.

“Oh I see how it is. You’re just here for my- my rad bathroom setup. No sentiment for ol’ Taako here, no, you just wanted to smell nice.”

Lup patted Taako’s shoulder twice and turned towards the hallway. It almost hurt, to pull away from him, but she washed it down with the knowledge that he’d only be a room away, that she could cast _ message _ if she really started to freak, and that he would actually hear her when she did. “You fucking know it Taako, don’t underestimate the call of lavender body wash- fuck,” Lup stumbled only slightly as a dizzy spell hit her, catching herself on the open doorway to the hall. Barry was at her side before she took a breath, and she turned back to see Taako tense and frozen before he strode to her side as well. “I’m fine,” she assured him, “just dizzy.” Lup looked at Barry. “I don’t remember you being so clumsy when we whipped the Hunger’s ass, babe.”

“I uh, I had a good- hour in the pocket spa.” Barry held on to her shoulders, keeping her upright even after she had adjusted herself. “We can- are you okay?”

Lup rubbed a loose hand down her face, feeling the pull, the stretch of her skin, the pliancy of it. “I’m good. Think I need some food in me,” She eyed Taako.

“Of course, Lup, great,” He was turning back to the open kitchen, shifting bowls and ingredients with a practiced flick of his wand. “Couldn’t have given me some warning, I could have actually made something special-” He turned back to her sharply. “_ Not _that it won’t be delicious. The best damn breakfast you’ll ever have.”

Lup watched her brother set up his cooking space, counted his deep breaths from across the room. “I find that hard to believe, since I won’t be the one making it.”

Taako swiveled back around to face her, indignant smile on his face. “May I remind you of the body goo, Lup? On my kitchen floor? Do not test me.”

Lup laughed. “You have magic, Dingus! You’re the one always trashing people for hoarding spell slots.”

“‘Everyone’ is not a world-renowned wizard chef and savior of the universe,” Taako retorted, but she heard the smile in his voice, felt the goop behind her on the kitchen floor be banished to some pocket dimension. With one more careful look at her brother, Lup turned down the hallway, Barry patient at her side.

Taako’s washroom was every extravagance denied to him when they were on the starblaster. The scent of bath salts and candles almost overwhelmed her, as fresh as her sense of smell was. She still took in the room eagerly, experiencing it fully for the first time.

“I hope you’re not allergic to anything in here babe, because there is no way I am skipping out on the scented soaps.”

Barry smiled, wiping his eyes prematurely. “I’ll- uh, I think I’ll manage.”

“Good.” Lup made her way over to the pearlescent bathtub and turned the faucet, watching the water with mild wonder as she rested her hand under the flow to test the temperature. 

It didn’t take long for the tub to fill. Lup slipped out of her robe with ease and into the water with Barry’s (only _ maybe _necessary) assistance, scrubbing gently at her legs to get rid of some of the surface level ick. As she turned to smile at Barry, her eyes caught on the red robe she’d haphazardly tossed on the counter. “Uh, wait. Shit, you think you could raid Taako’s closet for me babe? Not too keen on putting that thing back on after I wash up.”

Barry blinked, still smiling softly, but with an undercurrent of nerves that few people would be able to detect. She had felt the same way when she’d first been released from the umbrestaff. Joyous, but afraid in spite of herself, like an any moment her voice would stop being heard.

Lup reached to place her hand over his own where it rest on the edge of the bathtub. “I’m not gonna drown, babe, or- disappear,” she breathed, “I’ll be here when you get back. Promise.”

Barry nodded, leaning down to place a quick kiss on her temple before standing. “I know,” he said gruffly, “I’ll be back in a minute.” Behind him, he left the door open only a crack.

Lup leaned back, feeling the water roll over her skin. In the quiet off the room, she could feel her heart beating almost uncomfortably in her chest. But every breath was soothing, the air in her throat a reminder that she could be heard. Lup tapped out a rhythm on the side of the bathtub, humming softly to herself, listening.

“Lup? Are you okay?” Lup smiled as Barry opened the door, light fabric in his hands that she recognized as a tunic and loose cotton pants that Taako rarely wore. 

“I’m all good babe,” she answered, reaching out her hand in a silent request. Barry placed the stack of clothing on the counter and sat down on the bath mat to take her hand.

They sat together like that for some time, Lup flexing her limbs and rolling her joints one by one, familiarizing herself again with the feeling of being made up of pieces put together, instead of one physics-defying entity.

When she finally stilled, Barry asked, “Are you ready to start washing up?”

She squeezed his hand, then stretched again, smiling. “I suppose so. Could you be a dear and grab me a washcloth?”

Barry raised their joined hands, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “I love you,” he said.

Lup softened. “I love you too.”

Barry stepped over to the closet, pulling out a washcloth, as well as a towel, and placed the towel over her clothes on the counter. He put the washcloth on the side of tub and settled back onto the bath mat.

Lup felt her smile shift into something more devious. “Care to join me in here, babe? The floor can’t be very comfortable.”

Barry laughed. “I- I’d love to Lup, but I’m pretty sure, uh, that Taako would kill us.”

“He doesn’t have to know. He’s not gonna come in here, and we could use prestigitate to dry your hair.”

Barry smiled, but made no move from his position on the floor, instead holding out the washcloth to her. “Maybe another time. In our own house.”

Lup sighed, taking the cloth and dipping it under the water. She reached for one of the periwinkle bottles on the edge of the tub, pouring a coin-sized drop into the fabric. “Our bathroom is gonna have to be even nicer than this then. No more crappy showers, I've had a century of them.”

“Anything you want Lup,” Barry reached into the bath, pouring a handful of water onto her shoulder. “We have the resources, now.”

“We do…” Lup washed her arms, the motion slowing as she got lost in her train of thought. A hesitant smile played at the corners of her mouth. “This is really it, isn't it? We're,” she swallowed, “we're finally in the clear. This is it.”

It was quiet for a moment, as Barry reached out to press a hand against Lup’s cheek. She relaxed into the touch, warm and so, so _ him. _ She could draw out the lines in his hands from memory. “Yeah,” he answered, “We're here.” 

Lup leaned forward then, lifting herself partially out of the water to press her lips to his. It was more chaste than that morning, and much more deliberate.

She rested her forehead against Barry’s, fixing her eyes on his own. “I love you.” She said seriously.

Barry took her hand again, squeezing softly. “I love you too.”

“Get in the bath with me.”

“I will not.” Barry leaned back. “I'll wash your hair though.” He compromised.

Lup sighed, leaning back into the tub. "I suppose that will have to do." She flashed him a crooked smile, before adding quietly, "Be gentle, okay?"

"Always." Barry rose to his knees to shift behind her, picking up the off-white bottle of Taako's shampoo. "Uh, you want to, um? Your hair needs to be wet."

Lup considered dunking under. A decade ago, she wouldn't have even had to think about it. But the thought of holding her own breath made her nervous, the thought of closing her eyes and submerging her senses even more so. She could _ do _it, she was sure, and she would probably be fine, but…

"Could you just pour some water over my head, babe? I'm kind of comfy here."

"Of course, Lup."

Barry cupped his hands, gathering the water beside her and pouring it over the back of her head. Another handful, and he warned "Uh, watch your eyes."

Lup's eyes slid closed as the water ran over her, muscle memory that she wasn't even sure this body should _ have. _ But it happened nonetheless, in stark contrast to the sensation of cooling bathwater on her head.

The darkness was torn both ways, oppressively familiar and something she was terribly unaccustomed to. She had spent a decade in darkness, but more recently, months without eyelids to close. She had caught every subtle twist of her brother's hands, not missed a single breath her husband took or a twitch in the line of Lucretia's worried mouth. And now in front of her, the bathroom disappeared. She let out a wet laugh as she opened her eyes, heart beating hard. 

"Babe?"

"Might need to work on-um. My object permanence. Lup said.

"Right. Sorry," Barry apologized.

"It's alright." Lup blinked deliberately. "I'm alright."

"Yeah." Lup felt Barry's hand rub her shoulder behind her, felt him press his forehead to the crown of hers, his deep breaths on her neck. "I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'm gonna uh, I'm gonna start now, if you're ready?"

Lup relaxed, settled herself more comfortably. "Hell yeah I am babe. The sooner I can get this gunk out of my hair the better."

Lup heard Barry shuffle with the bottle for a moment before he reached out to massage the shampoo into her hair. Cautiously, she closed her eyes. It was a strange sensation, new and familiar and almost overwhelmingly comfortable, as she was finding many things to be. It almost made her want to cry again.

"You okay babe?"

Of course Barry had noticed the catch in her breath.

"Perfect, babe," Lup answered, though she could feel the roughness in her own voice. "Just keep doing what you're doing."

Barry worked on her hair for a lot longer than was probably necessary. Then again, she wasn't sure exactly how difficult it was to get body-slime out of her hair. But Barry's hands eventually slowed, ran along her neck before resting on her shoulders again. "I think you're good Lup."

Before she could hesitate Lup dunked herself under the water, not giving Barry the chance to offer to rinse out the shampoo himself. Being submerged wasn't nearly as startling as she expected it to be, full of sensation in the very way the umbrastaff had not been. 

Lup pulled herself back up with a deep breath, turning in the bathtub to face a startled (and slightly splashed) Barry.

"What?" she asked.

Barry let out a short laugh. "I love you."

Lup smiled. "You've said that already."

"I- yeah, shit," Barry took off his glasses, wiping at his eyes. "It's good to see you."

Lup reached out to take Barry's face in her hands, water dripping over his shoulders. She pulled him into a kiss, keeping him close. "Yeah. It's good to feel you."

Lup held Barry’s eyes for a moment more, warm and happy_ , _ before blowing a raspberry onto his cheek and promptly flipping back around in the bathtub, dunking herself under the water once more. She was getting used to the difference, temperature and sensation and a moment between breaths. She pulled herself back up, coughing out a delighted laugh. “Okay babe, I gotta get out of here, water’s getting cold.”

“Its- It’s colder on the floor,” Barry smiled, gesturing to the puddles around the bathtub as he stands up to grab her towel. 

Lup stretched, carefully pulling herself onto her feet. “My bad. I guess Taako will just have to waste a spell slot on a powered-up prestigitate.”

“You know, you could-” Barry wrapped the towel around Lup, “You could just clean it up yourself.”

“Not a chance babe. His bathroom, his problem.”

Barry offered his hand as Lup stepped out of the tub, making the puddles only deeper as water dripped around her. He kept holding on to her as he reached for a smaller towel to dry her hair. 

Lup turned to pick up Taako's folded clothes from the counter, pausing at her reflection. She felt her heart thud along to a sensation she couldn't quite place, looking at herself there. Damp still, affected by her surroundings, imperfect in a way she never remembered to imagine herself. She felt more than saw Barry’s hand come to rest on her shoulder as he leaned around her to meet her eyes in the reflection.

“Are you okay, Lup?”

She blinked, and took a breath, back to herself. “Yeah.” She turned in Barry’s arms, resting her hands on his shoulders before reaching back to grab Taako’s clothes again. “Just need to get dressed.”

“Right,” Barry stepped back, leaving a hand extended for an extra moment in case Lup needed to assistance. She didn’t, to her own mild relief, and she slipped into the fabric without issue, the soft material a welcome reprieve from the textured ipre-standard robe. 

Lup heard the sound of Taako working on breakfast, and she felt the fierce and familiar pull to join her brother and take things over. 

Barry took note of her posture, poised in a way so familiar with him, and indication that she was about to strike (metaphorically, at least). “Are you ready?” he asked.

Lup nodded determinedly, and with one more quick kiss, she stepped through the bathroom door and started down the hallway. She had a lifetime of breakfast ahead of her.


End file.
